Brian Bailey has big plans. The co-founder and CEO of Ichor Restaurant Group — which encompasses fast-casual eateries Old Carolina Barbecue Company, Baja Pizzafish, Smoke the Burger Joint and the soon-to-be-open Wedge Grilled Cheese — plans to open 555 restaurants by 2025.

Right now, Ichor, which opened its first restaurant in Massillon in 2006, has less than 20 stores.

Bailey said it might sound audacious, but "it has been done before."

"It may seem like a lot, but if we build a strong foundation, which is what we're focused on, we'll be able to support that," he said.

They'll get there with a little help.

"I made the decision to grow via franchising because it does allow us to grow faster," Bailey said.

"There are a lot of markets that are an ideal fit for our business model, and there's a little bit of a barbecue explosion happening across the country. ... To get to those markets that have a need quickly, franchising is the best way to do that," he said.

Ichor has Old Carolina franchises in the Cleveland area and a Smoke franchise in Carrollton.

And in the next month or so, Old Carolina will open its ninth store, a franchise in Ann Arbor, Mich.

It is the company's first foray out-of-state, but likely not its last. There is interest in opening stores in Kentucky, Pennsylvania and Florida, Bailey said.

FASTER GROWTH

"Franchising is a way to grow more rapidly with basically other individuals' capital," said Kevin Krabill, president and founder of We're Rolling Pretzel Company.

The Alliance-based pretzel chain opened its first store at Carnation Mall in 1996, about a month and half after Krabill approached the mall's landlord about taking over a recently shuttered pretzel store.

It was a very fast process, he said.

At the time, Krabill was focused on another eatery, a root beer stand and drive-in in Salem. The plan was to franchise the root beer stand and use the pretzel store for funding. After the first Christmas season, Krabill realized he had it backward.

The company had two corporate stores when it started franchising. At first it was slow going — it's hard to attract someone with so few locations, he said — but they managed to sell two stores. Then, from 2001 to 2005, the company had a leasing arrangement with Wal-Mart that helped them grow quickly, Krabill said.

Today, there are 39 We're Rolling stores in Wal-Marts and malls across six states: Ohio, Indiana, Michigan, Kentucky, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

Franchising has other benefits. The company owner doesn't have to worry about the day-to-day issues of running a store, such as scrambling to fill a shift when someone calls off, he said.

Page 2 of 5 - Franchised stores also allow for a hometown touch hundreds of miles from headquarters.

"I feel like the more local the owner, the more hands-on they're going to be, the better the store's going to perform," Krabill said.

That is one of the real benefits of franchising, he said. "If you could hire the right people easily and you have unlimited money, it makes more sense to have a corporate store."

RISKY BUSINESS

But franchising isn't without risks.

We're Rolling has had to take back some of its franchised stores, Krabill said.

When a store is ready to "go dark" or a franchisee is threatening to close, the parent company has to make a decision: Do you take the store over or let it go?

At its Wal-Mart locations, We're Rolling is obligated to resume operations at the store. At its mall locations, the company tries to negotiate a deal into the franchise contract allowing them to take over in the event of a failure, Krabill said.

"Sometimes it can be a good thing to get a store back. If you can turn it back around," he said. "That's probably one of the hardest judgment calls to make though. Nobody gives back good stores. They give back the problems."

The franchisor also runs the risk of litigation, Krabill said.

He cited an ongoing legal battle between sandwich chain Quiznos and its franchisees.

In 2009, Quiznos agreed to a $95 million class-action settlement with 6,900 franchisees who claimed the chain overcharged them for supplies and failed to offer marketing support, according to The Denver Post. The company is embroiled in another lawsuit with franchisees over similar accusations.

The biggest risk potentially is bringing someone into the system that doesn't share your values, Krabill said.

Krabill likened the franchise relationship to a marriage. He can't fire a franchisee the same way he can fire a employee at a corporate store. And while he can terminate the franchise agreement, it's a complicated process.

"If you get somebody in with a problem, it can very difficult to get them out," he said.

There always is the risk that a franchisee will take shortcuts or make decisions the parent company wouldn't make, Bailey said.

"You're entrusting them with your brand and all the effort we've put into building that brand over 10 years," he said. "We have a brand promise to deliver to our guests. They want outstanding barbecue served with genuine hospitality ... and we don't want to break that promise."

TALKING, TRAINING

Both companies try to mitigate that risk through a screening process and training programs.

We're Rolling has added questions to its application over the years — trying to understand why someone wants to buy a franchise in general and We're Rolling in particular — as the company has learned certain things over the years, Krabill said.

Page 3 of 5 - The company also brings in potential franchisees for a "discovery day," basically an interview for both parties, and encourages candidates to contact current and former franchise owners.

"I always tell (potential franchisees) that I'm not here to push them into this, they need to make an informed decision," he said.

When the franchisee decides to go ahead, We're Rolling has the architects and other contracts in place to get the store in order, Krabill said.

The company also does training at both corporate headquarters and the new location, he said, adding that it is a pretty typical approach that most franchisors take.

To be a successful franchisor, "the most important thing is to have a really, really strong operating system" and ensure that system is well documented and how the business is really being run, Krabill said.

Ichor treats franchising as a business model with dedicated employees and has a hand-in-hand partnership with its franchisees, Bailey said.

"Franchising is an entirely different business, and you have to treat it as such," he said. "There are (other) restaurants that have looked at it as a quick and easy way to make additional money. They're collecting royalties without building the resources behind it."

Ichor has five to six weeks of training, including three to four weeks of on-site training at the new store, along with continual follow-up.

The group has a dedicated training team, which has allowed the company to create new opportunities for its employees, Bailey added.

It is neat to see some of the kids who started working for Old Carolina in high school at the original store now take on roles in the brand-resource team and travel to different cities doing on-site training, he said.

The group also has been fortunate with franchise owners. Its current Old Carolina owners are passionate and share the same love for barbecue, he said, adding that they all started as Old Carolina customers.

ANN ARBOR PLANS

Nick Ferris was no exception.

Ferris, the owner of Old Carolina's new Ann Arbor store, has known Bailey and his partners since the beginning. He has watched the restaurant group grow and develop.

That relationship is a big reason for buying his own franchise, he said.

"Quite frankly, I love the (business) model and the food is fabulous," Ferris said.

Ferris's family has a background in the restaurant business, but his professional career isn't in food service. He said he aspired to enter the restaurant business not as an operator, but an investor, and eventually use the franchise as a platform for developing talent.

It costs $400,000 to $600,000 to open an Old Carolina franchise, depending on the location, size and other operating plans, Ferris said.

Page 4 of 5 - Not everyone has that kind of capital, he said, but if he can develop a dedicated-management team that wants to stay in food service, he could create an opportunity for those managers to buy into their own franchise.

"My intent is to be a vehicle for entrepreneurs," he said.

So why not open his own restaurant?

While he is interested in food and likes to cook, Ferris said he doesn't have the background necessary to create a restaurant menu, and "why reinvent what they've already done?"

Plus, there are so many facets involved in launching a restaurant, and the business has a fairly high failure rate, he said, "so why not partner with someone who has worked through those details?"

Old Carolina has a bright future; while the chain still is very young and localized, it has the potential to be the next Panera Bread, he said. "For me, it's a great opportunity to help build that."

The concept also has the added catering feature, allowing the business to exist outside of the four walls of a restaurant.

Ferris said he plans to hire a dedicated catering manager that will work side by side with his general manager to create market opportunities outside of the store.

His Old Carolina also will have some variations on the corporate theme. The store will highlight Michigan craft beer. It also is in a larger market and situated in a high-traffic, premium shopping center, giving it the potential to "exceed anything (Ichor) currently has," he said.

Ann Arbor has a huge demand for more barbecue restaurants, he said, adding that Old Carolina is better and more affordable than the area's current offerings.

FUTURE DEVELOPMENT

Ferris's Old Carolina should open by mid-February, pending any obstacles in the building process.

He doesn't plan to stop there. He already has scouting locations for his next Ichor ventures. He plans to open two Smoke restaurants once he has found suitable real estate, preferably in downtown Ann Arbor or in downtown Canton, Mich., or Plymouth, Mich. After that, he plans to open another Old Carolina.

The fast-casual genre is undergoing a revolution, as diners don't have time to spend on a full-service, two-hour meal, but want something more than fast food, he said.

Having the option of multiple brands gives Ichor franchisees an advantage over other restaurant companies, Bailey said.

"(Ferris) can grow his business without having to grow geographically," he said. "Not too many other restaurant companies offer that."

Krabill also is working with new concepts. He launched Over the Top, a gourmet popcorn shop, at Carnation Mall in November.

The business is new, but it has a lot of potential, he said. There is a lot of different ways to grow the popcorn business — like fundraising and online sales — that can't be done with pretzels.

Page 5 of 5 - "If we fine tune it and we get it right, we can really blow it out. If it works," he said.

Because they have built infrastructure and a knowledge base over the last 18 years, and have the people and distributors already in place, it won't take as long to go from two popcorn stores to 40, he said.

Krabill also is working on a new restaurant concept, one he hinted never has been seen in the U.S. on a large scale before, but was mum on the details.

He also plans to continue growing We're Rolling. The chain took a hit during the financial crisis, but had positive sales and an overall good year last year, he said.

With a lot of changes already in motion this year, 2014 is poised to be a very good year, he said.

Bailey envisions rapid growth for Smoke, even faster than Old Carolina, because the burger, fries and shakes business is a more simple operation than barbecue.

Ichor is working on tweaking its Baja Pizzafish model, including a new menu, before jumping into franchising.

"You don't want to get ahead of yourself and risk diluting what you're doing in your own stores or not having a successful model for someone to copy," he said, noting that while people wanted to franchise Old Carolina in its first month of operation, the company held off until 2012.

And while Bailey has 555 in mind, he knows the secret to success is being patient and getting the details right.

"We're definitely in this for the long haul. It's not a short-term game," he said.